The reunion
by Charlotte1
Summary: Short story on the reunion between a father and daughter


Title: The reunion  
  
Author: Charlotte Rating: G Disclaimer: All the characters except for Mayco and Charelle (and all the other nursery workers) belong to George Lucas. I am making no money out of this  
  
I know there's only going to be like two years between Episode II and Episode III, so there really isn't time for any of my stories to happen, but I've been bored, so I created this character Mayco. This short story is about what happens when Anakin meets his daughter for the first time after six months of separation.  
  
The Reunion  
  
Anakin could barely contain his excitement as he paced the corridor outside of the nursery rooms in the temple. He'd been waiting for what seemed like forever for this moment. He'd been forced to give up his child the day she was born; that had been bad enough, but then he'd been forced to stay away for six months whilst she adjusted to being without him. He knew it was necessary, but every single spare moment of those six months, his mind had wandered to the nursery, and he'd thought of his precious daughter, wondering what she was like, wondering if she still had his eyes.  
  
He was caught up in these thoughts when he heard footsteps coming down the corridor. He didn't need to look round to know it was his Master.  
  
" Good morning Master," Anakin said cheerfully, eventually tearing his gaze away from the nursery door to catch Obi-Wan's eye. Obi-Wan was smiling warmly at him.  
  
" Good morning," Obi-Wan replied. " How long have you been waiting here?" Anakin sighed.  
  
" Pretty much since I woke up," he answered, returning his gaze back to the door, willing it to open. Obi-Wan chuckled.  
  
" Don't get your hopes up," was all he said and he too took to watching the door in silent reverie. After ten more minutes of waiting, the door finally slid open and Obi-Wan and Anakin were hit by the barricade of sound and the jumble of smells, which accompanied the nursery. Charelle, the Jedi Knight in charge of the nursery stepped out into the corridor smiling warmly at the two men.  
  
" Hello, it's good to see you again," she said, directing her attention mostly to Anakin. He smiled and bowed his head to her. " I'm afraid we might have to delay your visit gentlemen, young Mayco is throwing a tantrum," Charelle told them.  
  
" My Padawan only wishes to see her, we do not intend on staying long," Obi- Wan said quickly, sensing Anakin's distress. Charelle frowned and pondered their request; eventually she nodded and beckoned for them to follow her through the crowded main nursery room. It was full of infants and carers engaging in different social activities, most of them laughing and smiling. Once on the other side of this room Charelle led them through a series of intricate corridors until eventually they rounded a corner and arrived in a corridor filled with the sounds of an upset infant. Anakin exchanged a grin with Obi-Wan that was filled with boyish excitement.  
  
* She's sure got some lungs on her that's for sure * Anakin told Obi-Wan through the Force. Soon Charelle stopped outside of a door.  
  
" Now are you sure you want to see her now, she can get very trying when she gets like this and absolutely nothing calms her down, we just have to wait it out," she explained, but she could tell from the impatient look on Anakin's face that nothing could stop him from seeing her now. So she opened the door and the infant's screams poured out into the corridor. Charelle walked in and the men followed her into a small room, filled with nursery workers, all huddled around what Anakin presumed was his daughter, but they were obstructing his view, so he couldn't see.  
  
" Ladies, Mayco has some visitors, if you wouldn't mind leaving," Charelle told her workers and the ladies left quickly revealing the infant. Anakin felt tears forming in his eyes as he caught his first glimpse of her. She truly was beautiful, even though her face was scrunched up in tears and in anger. She had the same blue eyes he'd found so hard to resist six months ago, and her once blonde wispy hair had turned into thick wavy locks of golden hair.  
  
" Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet our most difficult charge Mayco," Charelle told them and they both moved to her side. Anakin reached out to sense what the child was thinking.hoping she would remember him. He nearly cried out when he sensed that she was only mildly interested in who these strange men were, she didn't actually remember him at all. Obi-Wan sensed his despair.  
  
" May we hold her?" he asked Charelle.  
  
" If you can brave her fury," Charelle said sounding amused. Obi-Wan smiled and her and then turned on Anakin.  
  
" Go on then," he instructed. Anakin looked and him worriedly, but reached out to pick up his child anyway. The instant he touched her he felt a surge of raw emotion flood his senses, but what was even more remarkable was that the second he touched her, her cries ceased and as he picked her up she began to smile. Charelle's jaw literally dropped.  
  
" By the Prophets, how did you manage that?" she gasped. " The connection you share with her must still be a powerful one."  
  
" Not powerful enough for her to remember who I am," Anakin said gravely, but as he spoke he smiled into the young face of his daughter. He could sense her feelings clearly now, she liked him, she felt safe around him, and she felt happy to be held by him. Anakin smiled when he sensed these feelings.  
  
" That's right," he told her. " I won't ever let any harm come to you," he told her, and the baby smiled at him, a sight that Anakin kept in his mind's eye as the two men left the nursery hours later. Obi-Wan could sense mixed feelings in his Padawan; there was the pain he felt with Mayco not remembering who he was, but there was also joy, because she'd been happy to see him.  
  
" So you are to come again tomorrow?" Obi-Wan eventually asked. Anakin smiled and nodded.  
  
" And the day after that, and the day after that, and every day until either I die, or she tells me to stop coming," he said cheerfully and so he did. 


End file.
